Worldwide lockdowns have resulted in a reduction of atmospheric aerosols, leading to a reduction in lightning activity.

Last month, researchers at the American Geophysical Union showed a correlation between decreased atmospheric aerosols with decreased lightning.

When there are more aerosols, the water vapour in the cloud is distributed among a greater number of droplets, so the droplets are smaller and less likely to coalesce into larger rain droplets, Williams explains.

One of the researchers’ methods, which captured many intracloud flashes (the most common type of lightning), measured 19 per cent fewer flashes from March 2020 to May 2020 compared to the average number of lightning flashes across the same three-month period in 2018, 2019 and 2021, explains Inside Science.

Though the Americas did not observe as big of an impact as other areas did, Europe, Southeast Asia and a large portion of Africa saw considerable reductions in atmospheric aerosols and lightning.